Family Affairs
by FilleJolie
Summary: A new case takes a very personal turn for Sam. How will she handle it? Please R&R.
1. A Boring Day

"I hate days when we have nothing to do," Martin stated.

"I think we should savor the break," Vivian adds, "Days like these don't come very often."

It was late afternoon and the MSU team had just closed a case that morning. No more calls had come in since. There was a long silence; just then Samantha's cell rang.

"Spade," she answered briskly, "What's wrong?" she asked the caller with a hint of worry in her voice. The other team members looked at her curiously. "I'm sure she is in the barn or something. Did you look? She's a teenager Laura, she could be anywhere…Yes, I know she's responsible. Yes, I know she has never done anything like this before. Did you call her cell phone?" The team members' curiosity grew as they listened to the ongoing conversation. Samantha was not one to share personal conversations on a daily basis, or ever, for that matter. "Maybe she needed a break, yes Laura, I love her to death, but you have to consider these things. I can help if you really think it's necessary, but you have to file a missing person's report. Ok, call me back when you're done." Sam put hung up and then quickly dialed another number. The team watched as she waited patiently, and finally hung up.

"So Sam, are you going to tell us what that was about?" Danny asked expectantly.

"Unfortunately," Sam responded, "I think you will found out soon enough."

Samantha was right. Danny, Vivian, and Martin waited about five minutes when Jack came in.

"Well, I hope you enjoyed the break," he said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "we have another case, and I am hoping that Sam can provide us with a picture."

They all looked toward Sam, she had her head in her hands, and she sighed and then very slowly opened one of her file drawers. She took out a picture, walked carefully toward the white board, and pinned it up.

**_To be continued…_**


	2. She Does Have Family

Sam stepped back from the white board and the team looked at the picture with broadening interest. The picture was of a young girl, maybe 15. She had shoulder-length hair with cute side-swept bangs. She had a tan complexion and elegantly defined facial features. Her deep almond-colored eyes bore a striking resemblance to Sam's. She was quite pretty.

"That," states Sam quietly, "is my 15-year old niece."

"So you do have family," Danny adds sarcastically.

"Yes." Sam shoots back. " She is my sister, Laura's, daughter, Sophie. They live as far away as you can get from the city when you live in New York. Laura married Samuel Bennett, a wealthy big-shot executive. They met when Laura was hired as his personal assistant and it was love at first site. They have an amazing house, big and beautiful, on about 15 acres. They have a barn; horses are Sophie's passion, and a lot of the time her horse keeps her away from the boys. It's about a un-Sophie like as possible for her to disappear. She is everything you would wish for in a teenage daughter. She's a straight-A student, responsible, neat, diligent, and athletic. Unfortunately her parents aren't around much to enjoy her. Samuel travels around the globe and Laura travels with him. They were in China last week, Tokyo the next, and then they came home for about three days, long enough to notice their daughter's disappearance. Laura says she knows Sophie was there for breakfast because her dishes were still in the sink and Sophie's best friend Cameron talked to her this morning. Sophie and I are pretty close. I spend as much time as I possibly can manage with her, but it takes me about an hour-and-a-half for me to get to their house."

"Okay, Sam, thanks for the intro," Jack cuts in, "Any questions?"

"She is quite a beauty Sam, her eyes look just like yours," Vivian compliments.

"Thanks, Viv," Sam says with a hint of a smile, the closest she had come to smiling all morning.

"You don't think she would attempt a suicide, it sure does sound like she could get pretty lonely," Martin adds his thoughts.

"No!" Sam exclaims loudly, making everyone jump.

"Now Sam, you can't be biased on cases like this," Jack says warningly.

"I am not being biased," she defends herself, "I know her and she wouldn't do something like that. She has Cameron and her horse, and she would never leave anyone like this. She hates to worry people."

"Maybe she is rebelling against her parents' absence, she is a teenager," Martin adds his thoughts.

"Not everyone is like you when you were a teenager, Martin," Sam practically growls.

Danny couldn't help but snicker at the comment, and Vivian couldn't hold back her smile. Jack looked annoyed by Sam's behavior, and Martin, well Martin did look a bit hurt. Sam walked back to her desk, picked up her cell phone, and pressed redial. No one even had to ask whom she was trying to call.

To be continued… 


	3. Text Message

"Alright," Jack takes charge," Sam, take someone with you to the house and check it out. The rest of us will stay here and see if we get any hits on possible suspects.

"I think I can handle it on my own, Jack," Sam states.

Everyone looked a little disappointed, each of them would have jumped at the chance to see the house Sam had been describing all morning.

"Alright, suit yourself," Jack said a little unwillingly.

They watched as Sam walked out of the bullpen and headed toward the elevator.

Sam had just pulled onto the street when her cell phone made a beeping noise. She picked it up and immediately pulled over when she saw what it was. It was a text message from Sophie, but it didn't make any sense. All it said was _Am p_. She called Jack's cell.

"Malone," Jack answered.

"Jack, it's Sam, Sophie just sent me a text message…"

"Hang on Sam, okay, now you're on speaker."

"Okay, Sophie just sent me a text message, but it doesn't make any sense. All it says is Capital A, lowercase m, space, lowercase p."

"Hold on," interrupted Martin, "Let's say she had only a little time to send the message before getting caught. When you write a new text, the phone automatically defaults to letters, not numbers. Let's suppose she was trying to indicate a street," Martin picked up his phone, "If she typed in A, she really meant 2, then she typed m, but she meant 6, then a space p, that gives you 26 7."

"26 & 7th! Martin you are a genius, either that, or you spend way too much time texting people."

"Thanks, Sam," Martin felt himself blush.

"Okay, Danny and Martin, you go check out that intersection, Sam you keep going to the house," Jack ordered.

Danny and Martin headed out and Sam kept driving. In the middle of the day with hardly any traffic problems, she made it there in about 45 minutes.

* * *

Danny and Martin pulled into a small alleyway off 26 and 7th about 30 minutes later. It wasn't in the best part of the city, but it certainly wasn't the worst. They got out of the car and began looking around.

"Hey Martin, take a look at this," Danny said worriedly.

Martin walked over to where Danny was leaning over an object on the ground.

"I'm almost scared to ask Sam what kind of cell phone Sophie carries," Martin spoke softly.

"Me too, Martin, me too."

Martin headed back to the car and Danny solemnly picked up the crushed pieces of a light pink Motorola Razor.

To be continued… 

**Authors Note: Next up is Sam's POV, I bet you all can't wait!**


	4. Confusion

Sam pulled up to the looming gate that stood between her and her sister's house. She had always admired the English mansion, set in a beautiful backdrop that seemed miles away from the bustling city, yet realistically it was just 30 minutes at most. Sam had always been on good terms with her sister. They hadn't gotten into any big argument, they had just parted ways and lost touch. Truly, that morning was the first time Sam had spoken to her older sister in 2 or 3 years maybe.

Sam punched in the gate code, surprised she still remembered. She parked the car in the gravel turnaround, and on impulse headed toward the barn. If Sophie were anywhere, she would be there. Sam didn't know what to expect when she pulled open the heavy oak door, but what she did see did not settle the growing knot in her stomach, a knot that had started growing that morning when she got the call from her sister. Sophie's huge gray gelding stood abandoned and lonely in the wash rack, he was also shaking slightly. Sam walked over to him and stroked him gently, until he calmed down, the led him back to his stall. Once the horse was taken care of, she gravely assessed the situation before her. Cracked and forlorn on the ground was a pink plastic groom box, it contents strewn across the ground haphazardly, only a short distance away, lying upside down, was Sophie's most prized possession. The black leather saddle that seemed designed specifically for her in mind, and coincidentally complemented her mount. Sam bent over and picked it up. She was deep in thought, remembering how excited Sophie had been on her 13th birthday when she had called Sam and told her of the lovely gift she had received…"Guess what Sam!" she had said, "it even has my name on a little gold plate in back!" Samantha didn't even hear the footsteps softly creeping up behind her, and all she felt was a sharp pain that shot from the back of her head throughout her body, then she was out cold.

* * *

"Has anyone heard from Sam?" Jack questioned as he entered the bullpen to confront his team on their progress.

"Nope," Danny was the first to respond, "not since she called about the text message.

Grave nods followed from the other team members.

"Well," Martin broke the silence, "all we have so far is this," he held up the plastic bag containing the pieces of the crushed cell phone, they had found in the alley.

No one had a chance to input their opinions on the only evidence they had before the entrance of a woman distracted them. Of course they could have guessed who she was. The golden hair and the prominent brown eyes were a dead giveaway. In fact they were quite surprised by the likeness between Sam and her sister. Besides being slightly taller and narrower in stature, they could pass as twins.

"Hello," she said coolly, "you must be Samantha's colleagues."

"Hi there," Jack replied, "you must be Mrs. Bennett"

"Yes," she responded in the same monotone, "where is my little sister anyway?"

"She is at your house presently," Jack informed her, "by the way, I am Jack Malone." Jack followed by introducing the rest of the team.

"So, now that introductions are out…"

"Wait one minute," Laura Bennett interrupted. "I was just at my house before I came here and my sister was certainly not there, the only thing out of the ordinary, and a visit from Samantha would certainly be out of the ordinary, was a black sedan in my turnaround."

"Well," Martin said tentatively, not wanting to interrupt the woman, "Sam did drive a black sedan over there."

"Well," Laura continued, "there was not a soul around."

"Maybe we should send someone else over there," Vivian suggested casually. She wasn't worried yet, because Laura Bennett may not display her emotions noticeably, but Vivian could tell she was a bit frazzled. She could have easily overlooked her younger sister, if she was not looking for her.

"Alright," Jack said, sounding a bit confused, "Mrs. Bennett, why don't you lead the way, while Vivian and myself follow you back."

Laura Bennett hastily agreed, not wanting to be home alone. Martin and Danny looked a bit disappointed. They would not have minded the trek, if it meant even a glance at their elusive coworker's past. They knew at least something about every team member's childhood. Samantha Spade was another story.


	5. Ransom for Two?

"Wow." Vivian mentioned to Laura Bennett. "You have a beautiful home."

"Thanks," Laura casually replied.

"Where is your husband?" Jack questioned.

"He had to tie up some loose ends at the office, he'll be back soon."

As if he was programmed, Samuel Bennett burst through the door, obviously flustered.

"Have you found out anything?" was the first thing he blurted.

"No dear, they haven't yet." Laura Bennett calmly informed him.

"How can you be so calm!" He replied angrily. "Someone has our little girl and you are acting like nothing is wrong!"

"Mr. Bennett, I can assure you we are doing everything possible to find her, we didn't even get the missing persons' report until a couple hours ago." Vivian tried to calm the man.

"Let's walk out to the barn," Laura suggested, "We may find something there."

"Like Sam, maybe." Jack mumbled to himself. He had seen nor heard any sign of Sam since they arrived.

Vivian, Jack, and the two Bennetts arrived and pulled open the heavy oak barn door, much like Samantha had only an hour ago. They had no idea what to expect. After opening the door they found the same scene that Sam had, only with a few added touches here and there.

"Shit." Jack said, "that's Sam cell phone." He pointed to another crushed phone next to the saddle that Sam had briefly attempted to pick up.

"Well," Vivian added, "if there is one thing we know about the perpetrator, it's that he has a thing for crushing phones."

They surveyed the scene with increasing worry, until the silence was broken by a beeping sound. Samuel pulled a blackberry out of his suit pocket. The other three watched as his face changed from surprise to anger to hurt in a matter of seconds. He quickly explained.

"Danny," Jack spoke into his phone, "you and Martin get up here as fast as you can. We got a ransom, for Sophie…and Samantha.

_

* * *

__Hey there bigshot!_

_I'm sure you are flustered at the moment. You have never been one to handle tense situations well. When you cross me like you did, there are certain consequences. I want 1,000,000 for the sister-in-law, the pretty blonde. You get me that, I give her back. Then I want another million for your daughter, the cute brunette. You try to get the cops involved someone's gonna die. You try to scam me again and both of them are gonna die._

_Email me back and we will negotiate drops._

_P.S. Don't flatter yourself with elaborate schemes to be the hero, it will only cause more trouble._

_Signed:_

_You Wish_


	6. Revelation

**Author's Note: Wow. I am so sorry that it took me so long to get a chapter up. I was so busy with school and such, but I have finally posted another one of my notoriously short chapters (sorry about that, I try). I hope you enjoy and hopefully I will be able to update again soon.**

Sam drifted in and out of conciousness, when she finally awoke her vision was slightly blurred, as was her memory of the day's events. She awoke long enough to realize she was in a moving vehicle, and to notice her niece's head leaning against her shoulder, the memories flooded back and she quietly drifted off again.

* * *

Sophie was a bit sketchy about the details. Needless to say, she was quite a bit relieved to find her Aunt Sam next to her in the trunk of what she gathered to be a large SUV, but still she could not settle the growing feeling that she and Sam were in serious trouble, and no matter how hard she tried she couldn't stay awake.

* * *

Samuel Bennett was a bit flustered but he had a pretty good idea of who had sent him the ransom. He explained to the agents, including Danny and Martin who had only just arrived, "One of the things my company specializes in is helping people invest in the stock market, a while back this man had about $500 dollars in his pocket, he asked us to make him millions, well, millions is about what he lost. We invested his money in a up-and-coming production company with plans to put out 2 TV series and a movie that summer, well the company tanked in the first couple months, and the guy was pretty pissed." Samuel continued, "He said he would get me back one way or another, I had security escort him out of the building. Sophie was in my office at the time, waiting for Samantha to pick her up for the weekend, Sam came in right before the man started his rampage. His name was Walter Frankel."

"Alright," Jack booms, "You heard the man, Let's find this Walter guy."

Everyone hurried to set up the technical stuff while Jack asked Laura Bennett to take him up to Sophie's room. Vivian came with him. Laura left them there. The first thing they noticed was the neatness, it was impeccable, the bed was made and it looked as though it had never been slept in.

"I could probably count on one hand how many times I made my bed when I was her age," Jack said to Vivian.

Vivian looked incredulous, "I don't even know what to say, I consider myself lucky if I can walk through Reggie's room without tripping over something."

The room was furnished beautifully, everything matched everything else in a subtle, indirect way. There was a picture of her and Sam, a while back, Sophie appeared to be about 5 or 6, while Sam looked about 17 or 18. There was a large black and white picture of her with her gray gelding, she was holding a first-place ribbon. There was another of her with her parents, maybe a Christmas picture, and then another with a girl her age, which they guessed, was probably her best friend. Jack opened the top drawer of a desk, on top of which sat a Mac and a speaker holding a video ipod. Jack just shook his head, kids were spoiled these days, and he thought of his own daughters who both had their own Sony PSPs. On top of some papers in the drawer Jack found an older picture, it looked well handled, or loved, if you could even say that to describe a picture. It was Sam and Laura, Jack could tell that much, it wasn't a professional photo, but it almost looked posed. The two little girls sat in the grass, ducklings surrounded Sam and Laura was feeding cheerios to a wary mother duck.

"Viv, take a look at this," Jack called across the overly large room.

"Wow," Vivian smiled, "So Samantha Spade does have a childhood."

"I always knew she did." They both gave each other knowing smiles.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs, the search continued. Walter Frankel had conveniently disappeared. 


	7. Proof of Life

"Well," Danny states, " Seeing as thought we know who took them, we just have to figure out where the hell they are."

"Yea." Jack answered, in a way that indicated he was only half-paying attention to Danny.

They had traced the email back to an Internet café, which was now closed for the night and the owner was nowhere to be found. They had no leads, no tips, the APB was useless and the Bennetts were getting frustrated.

"Hey!" Samuel Bennett exclaimed, "He sent me another email."

_I figured you might want some proof of life before you dropped 2 million so I set up a webcam. Go to this web address and you can see them, live, with audio. I expect an email back asking for a drop location._

"Someone get that website up now!" Jack ordered.

People started rushing around and as soon as it was up everyone crowded around the laptop computer. A small screen popped up, at first nothing was visible, then it came into focus. They could see a room, an empty room. They stared for a while until the door burst open. Sophie was dropped on the ground and without turning around the perpetrator was out the door again, slamming it behind him.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Sophie screamed in frustration.

"So we really do have audio," Jack exclaimed, "but where is Sam?"

As if to answer his question the door burst open again and Sam was dropped right next to Sophie against the wall.

"They really have it coming," Sam sighed and leaned back. She looked at Sophie, "So Soph, you have any ideas?"

The two had no idea of their frustrated audience. The IP address on the webcam was apparently eluding them at the moment. According to Samuel Bennett, this Walter guy was nothing short of computer wizard. The only thing they could do was watch. And they watched as two very smart girls attempted to escape. They were both tied up, hands and feet, but no mouth gags.

"Sophie, scoot over here, sit back to back," Sam ordered.

"Got it!" a willing Sophie replied.

"They are going to try and untie themselves," Jack explained.

"Damn, they're smart," Samuel Bennett practically cheered.

They watched in astonishment at the events unfolding in front of them. Sophie and Sam sat back to back working, one at a time on the knots that bonded their hands.

"I got it!" Sophie whispered ecstatically.

Sophie's hands were free and she quickly untied Sam's hands. Within about 5 minutes both of them were totally untied. They sat quietly against the wall until Sophie broke the silence.

"Now what?" She questioned somewhat stoically.

Their audience waited for an answer. Sam didn't have one but she looked, at least it seemed, straight at the camera.


	8. Someone's Watching

"What is that?" Sam turned toward Sophie.

"What?" Sophie questioned sounding a little frightened.

"They can see the camera." Jack announced

They watched as Sam stood up and started walking toward the camera, Sophie watched her, and then quickly stood up and followed.

"Hey!" Sophie exclaimed, "that's a webcam. I have one of those on my computer.

"So someone is watching us?" Sam suddenly stepped back from the camera.

"Probably." Sophie said.

They both turned towards the door.

"Someone's coming," Sophie whispered hurriedly.

"Ok, we are getting out of here," Sam said.

"But…" was the last thing they heard Sophie say before the screen went blank.

"What happened to the feed?" Jack yelled in frustration.

Samuel Bennett produced an email that simply said…

_You have seen enough._

**Author's Note: So do you think Sam and Sophie will escape or will they have to set up a drop? You will find out soon enough!**


	9. Plan A

**Author's Note: Wow. I am so incredibly sorry about the lack of updating, but I have been totally uninspired. I am not even sure how this chapter is going to go. It will probably be short until I can come up with something better.**

"How do you plan to get out of here," Sophie whispered frantically.

The sound of footsteps grew increasingly loud. They stopped in front of the door. The pair exchanged frightened glances, and held their breaths. There was silence for a moment and the footsteps started again, in the opposite direction

"Wow. That was close." Sam exhaled.

"Ok, that is the only way out, it seems." Sam pointed toward a small, barely detectable window behind a stack of dusty, cardboard boxes.

"Can we fit through that," Sophie asked skeptically.

"Just barely, just barely."

* * *

Meanwhile back at the house, Samuel Bennett asked Jack if he should set up a drop. Just before Jack was about to reply, a tech expert yelled at them.

"Hey! I got a hit on the webcam, after he shut it off the signal stayed up. It is coming from a warehouse over on the other side of town.

"Alright! Danny comes with me! Viv, Martin, hold down the fort."

They ran out of the house and sped out of the drive, hopefully they weren't too late.


	10. Breakthrough

"Sam, if we break that window it is going to be very loud." Sophie asked, as tears began to escape her deep brown eyes.

"Soph, I promise we are gonna be ok," Sam reassured her, although she didn't feel too hopeful herself.

Sam climbed up on a stack of boxes, and balancing precariously she examined the window.

"Hold on Sophie, it has a latch we don't have to break it."

"Really?" Sophie's eyes lit up, but only for a moment, as they heard a crash and yelling from down the hall, outside the door.

"Sophie! Now or never!" Sam unlatched the window, and grabbed Sophie's hand as she struggled up the mountain of boxes.

As soon as the window was opened an alarm rang throughout the warehouse. Sam pushed Sophie through the window, and quickly followed as footsteps ran down the hall. Just before she struggled out she kicked hard and the makeshift ladder of boxes tumbled down right into the path of their pursuers.

"Sam, come on!"

The two ran down the street, until they came to an obscure coffee shop, they slowed to a walk and casually entered the shop and headed straight for the restroom. Once inside with the door locked. They sat and caught their breath. They sat for about 5 minutes when the sound of squealing tires and fast cars could be heard outside the bathroom. The cars drove past the coffee shop without even slowing down. Neither said a word, they only exchanged knowing glances and wondered what they would do next.

* * *

Jack and Danny knew it was a bad sign when they pulled up to their destination. They quickly assessed the situation. Alarms going off, the warehouses door open, and signs of some serious rubber burning. It was only when they found the room Sophie and Sam had been held in, that they felt sure they must have escaped. 


	11. Plan B

"Ok," Sam stated as she stood up slowly, "Let's go use the phone." She grabbed Sophie's hand and pulled her up.

The pair walked over to the coffee bar.

"Hi," Sam said, rather dramatically, "Could we please use your phone?"

"Sorry, miss," the man replied, "guy got pissed at whoever he was talking to and ripped it clean out of the wall."

"Damn." Sam said under her breath.

Sophie glanced at the payphone, what the man said was true. The cord was ripped clean off.

Sam wasn't particularly familiar with this part of town. "Where is the closest pay phone?"

"About half a block that-a-way." The man replied as he pointed out the window.

Sam was pretty sure the people responsible for taking her and Sophie weren't gone. She figured they probably had a couple cars patrolling the surrounding area. She looked at Sophie.

"I don't know if it is a good idea Sam, I bet they are still out there."

Sam agreed with her niece. They both stared out the window.

Time for Plan B. Sam thought.

* * *

"So, What's the plan?" Danny looked over at Jack

"Well," Jack responded slowly, "I would say it is time to come up with a Plan B."


	12. Resolution

Back at the Bennett home, it was a scene of organized chaos. Vivian and Martin were chatting with various tech experts. Laura and Samuel Bennett were sitting amid this chaos, examining their busy lives.

"Samuel," Laura spoke while on the verge of tears, "I think we should stop traveling so much. If anything happens to Sophie or Samantha I would never forgive myself for not spending enough time with either of them. I mean, you are the CEO. Can't you send some of your interns, or executives? Any of your employees, for that matter?"

"Maybe we can just take Sophie with us?" Samuel asked rather hopefully.

"You know we couldn't do that!" Laura was getting frustrated now, "She has school, and her horse, and her friends. We just couldn't do that, and you know it!"

Samuel sighed, "Laura, I can't trust anyone else, you should know that better than anyone. Those interns could screw up some of my multi-million dollar partnerships."

"Then you can find yourself a new personal assistant!" Laura was shouting now, "You may not be willing to screw up some of your multi-million dollar partnerships! I am not willing to screw up my daughter's life!" She stormed up the grand staircase and slammed a door in her wake.

Samuel sat on the couch, thinking about what his wife said. "Maybe I should take a couple of weeks off," he thought to himself, "I am the CEO." He was thinking about that last time he had played polo with Sophie when his phone rang.

Vivian and Martin, who had just watched the whole episode, came over, and stood next to Samuel. He put the phone on speaker, expecting it to be Walter.

"Daddy?" Sophie's voice had never sounded sweeter to him than at that moment.

"Sophie, honey, where are you?"

"Me and Sam are at this little coffee shop, we escaped the warehouse place through a window."

Vivian called Jack immediately. She hoped they were still at the warehouse.

"Jack! Sam and Sophie are at The Coffee Bean. It's just around the corner from the warehouse."

"Sophie. Mr. Malone is on his way to pick you guys up. Stay put ok."

"Ok, Dad, I'll stay on the line."

Jack and Danny arrived at the coffee joint at the same time that Viv and Martin traced Walter Frankel's cell phone. The police picked him up in an abandoned building, along with his two thugs, who had just begun to explain that they had lost Sam and Sophie.

The FBI had already packed up and left, with the exception of Viv and Martin, when Jack, Danny, Sam, and Sophie arrived. Laura, with Samuel close behind rushed out to the car and embraced their daughter. Laura hugged Sam, and apologized for not spending enough time with Sophie. Laura announced that she was going to be a stay-at-home mom. Samuel announced that he had taken a month off work, and he intended on promoting his favorite intern so that he wouldn't have to travel so much.

"I think everyone should stay for dinner!" Laura announced.

Jack though it was a nice idea, after all they didn't have any open cases. They deserved a celebration.

Laura was thrilled and everyone headed inside. As it turns out Laura was actually a very talented cook. The group milled around in the living room while they waited for Laura to call them to dinner.

Hey Sam," Sophie called. "Do you know who misses you?"

Sam put down her glass of wine. "I have a hunch," she replied mysteriously.

Sophie grabbed Sam's hand and they ran outside.

Laura came out of the kitchen, and saw everyone looking out the window.

She looked after her sister and her daughter knowingly. "I know were they are going."

Everyone expected her to answer, "Just wait," she responded.

They did, and a few minutes later, Sophie emerged from the barn, cantering her grey gelding bareback towards an open pasture gate. Sam, who was cantering her big bay mare toward the open pasture gate, closely followed Sophie, her long blond hair flowing behind her.

"That is who missed her," Laura said as she headed back to the kitchen, "Dinner's ready," She called behind her.

The missing person's unit, minus one, sat down to a delicious dinner, wondering what else they didn't know about Samantha Spade.


End file.
